USWHC -Chapter 18 An Oddball Family (Part 8)

“Um… Brother Erhan, I’m hungry!” As time passed bit by bit, noon arrived in the blink of an eye. Zhu Jie spoke in an especially soft and weak voice.

Across from her, Ji Yi was still staring at her with his eyes wide open, watching without blinking. Just now, Zhu Jie had practically used every trick she had, but this Ji Yi remained a complete mama’s boy. No matter how much she begged, he only had one reply:

“My mother’s orders can’t be disobeyed!”

Was this meant to drive someone to death with anger? Zhu Jie rolled her eyes toward the sky helplessly.

Just then, Old Madam Ji’s sharp voice came from outside the door. “Erhan, time to eat!”

The moment Zhu Jie heard it, she immediately perked up. But just as the corners of her mouth lifted in hope, she saw Ji Yi shoot her a cold glance.

Wait… don’t tell me he’s not even going to eat?

Yet the next moment, Ji Yi silently stood up and walked out of the room.

As soon as he stepped outside, Zhu Jie heard Old Madam Ji’s concerned voice: “So? Han’er, did you do it?”

“Do what?” Ji Yi’s simple, somewhat foolish voice sounded at just the right moment.

Old Madam Ji’s voice immediately rose an octave. “What else could it be? Silly son, come here. You’re already twenty—don’t tell me you don’t even know about this?”

A series of smack smack sounds followed.

Zhu Jie’s face turned red, then pale, but the corners of her mouth couldn’t stop curling upward in amusement. She wasn’t stupid—of course she understood what Old Madam Ji meant by “doing it.”

Now that no one else was in the room, Zhu Jie cautiously stood up and gently shook her legs, which had nearly gone numb from sitting.

She looked down disdainfully at the ropes binding her tightly.

“Hmph. You think these little ropes can tie me down?”

With a cold snort, she secretly circulated her inner strength. With a crisp snap, the ropes broke into several pieces once again, scattering to the ground like falling petals.

Looking at the messy pile of rope fragments on the floor, Zhu Jie felt both proud and helpless.

She had trained in martial arts for five years, yet all she could do was snap a rope? She couldn’t even beat an ordinary country farmer?

How tragic was that!

But as a modern person with brains and intelligence, if she couldn’t fight, she still had plenty of ways to escape. There was no way she’d willingly stay in this remote mountain village to become someone’s wife!

With a quick movement, she quietly slipped over to the door and pressed her ear against it like a thief, listening carefully.

Heh—there was no one in the courtyard!

Zhu Jie pushed the door open just a crack. Through the courtyard, she could see that everyone in the opposite room was eating together noisily.

Her smile grew even more smug.

What a bunch of idiots!

She slipped out and leaped forward. In a single bound she covered more than ten meters. The snow in the courtyard was thick, yet her footsteps were incredibly light. With just a few swift movements, she arrived beneath the wall.

Escaping… was this easy?

The courtyard wall seemed to be made of rammed earth and wasn’t very high. Zhu Jie lightly jumped and grabbed the top of the wall. With just one push from her feet, she could leap out successfully.

Haha—she was about to be free!

Zhu Jie couldn’t help but laugh happily.

But just as she was laughing smugly, a cold snort suddenly sounded behind her.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Zhu Jie immediately shuddered.

What? When did someone get behind her? How had she not heard anything?

The voice was all too familiar. Zhu Jie didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was.

Seriously? Was her luck this bad?

“Well… I—I was just trying to see how thick the snow outside is!” Zhu Jie had just started speaking when she suddenly felt someone grab her clothes.

What? Was she really not going to escape?

Zhu Jie had never been someone who gave up easily. Even as she said that, she forcefully kicked off the wall with her foot. With a whoosh, her body shot upward, rising half a zhang into the air.

Heh! As long as she got out of this courtyard, she didn’t believe this guy would dare openly traffic women!

Unfortunately, dreams were full and beautiful, but reality was painfully skinny.

She did leap up—but instead of flying over the wall, her entire body was lifted away from it and left hanging in midair, frozen there.

She even had time to look down at Ji Yi below. His eyes were full of teasing amusement, while his raised hand suddenly pressed downward with force.

“No—!”

Smack!

Zhu Jie crashed face-first onto the ground, ending up with a mouthful of snow and mud.